Self Reflection
by SincerelyCarmillaKarnstein
Summary: Emma and Regina end up in a fight that might have started outside of Regina's house, but it was going to end in the Enchanted Forest! Emma and Regina become captured by The Evil Queen and become her prisoners. How will Emma react to meeting The Evil Queen? Will Regina see that she has truly changed when she faces her past self?
1. Chapter 1

The town called Storybrooke had become Emma Swan's new home because that was where her son lived. Ever since Henry had come into her life four years ago, she wanted to get to know him. His other mom, Regina Mills, had slowly warmed up to the idea that they should spend more time together. Regina had made it a requirement for Emma to come to dinner on Fridays and that the only time she was allowed to miss it was if she was called away on duty.

The two women had been developing a friendship and Henry was very happy that he had two moms instead of one. There were times when the three of them spent time together and it wasn't something Regina made Emma do like the dinners.

Emma loathed Hook and hated that he kept following her around like a lost puppy. She couldn't go anywhere without Hook being close behind her. He constantly kept trying to ask her out.

It was Friday morning and Emma was in Granny's diner to eat her usual breakfast. As she sat down at her favorite booth and was enjoying her coffee and bear claw, she saw a familiar figure standing at her table. She immediately knew who it was because the lights made the pirate's hook shine brighter.

"Hello Swan, fancy seeing you here this morning."

Emma put down her bear claw on a napkin, "What do you want? I'm trying to enjoy my bear claw and coffee before work."

Hook leaned against the table,"It's not very nice for a lass to ignore someone that's trying to woo her."

"Well Hook, I'm not someone that you can woo so just forget it."

"I don't give up that easily, Swan.'

"If I say yes to a date, then will you leave me alone for the rest of the day?"

Hook nodded.

"Fine, we'll go on _one_ date and that's it."

The pirate grinned, "I will see you tonight for dinner on the Jolly Roger at seven."

He walked out the door feeling triumphant and Emma resumed eating her bear claw. She couldn't believe that she had agreed to going on a date with him. After the incident in Neverland, Hook wasn't someone that she ever wanted to have a relationship with.

 **-Flashback-**

 _When she went to Neverland with Hook, the two of them were following Regina through the jungle. Hook had touched her shoulder to stop her from walking. She thought that he wanted to talk to her, but he chose that moment to try to kiss her. Emma had shoved him away before he was able to and told him that if he tried it again, she would leave him in Neverland. Hook wasn't one to give up easily. After they had returned to Storybrooke, Emma had ignored his attempts to woo her._

 **-Present-**

Emma finished her breakfast and went through her routine like she normally did. It was 6:45PM by the time she was driving to the dock to meet Hook. She arrived at seven and saw Hook waiting for her at the entrance of the Jolly Roger. She parked her car and followed him inside his ship.

He pulled her chair out and she sat down at a table that had a bottle of wine with burgers and fries on paper plates. It was an odd combination to have for dinner.

"I know that love burgers and fries, Swan."

"Yeah, I love eating them, but I wouldn't consider it as something you eat on a date."

"The wine is what makes it a date."

"Did you get this from Granny's Diner?"

"No, I made it myself. I don't like that device known as an oven, so I found another way to cook it."

Emma lifted the bun and saw that the burger was overcooked and the fries were starting to get soggy. She was already regretting accepting this date because Regina probably made her delicious homemade lasagna. Emma didn't tell Regina that she actually liked spending time with her.

After Neverland, Emma started developing feelings for the older woman. It was surprising because she had never been attracted to a woman before. She tried to ignore it, but the dinners had made her feelings stronger. She felt like she finally had her own little family.

Regina looked down at her watch and saw that it was 7PM. Henry and Regina were sitting at the dinner table with the lasagna on the table. Henry kept glancing at the door expecting Emma to come through the door any moment now. Regina pursed her lips and Henry could tell that his mom was going to have a "good talking" to.

Regina cleared the plates, Henry went to play videos games for a few hours. Henry knew that his other mom was going to be in a lot of trouble the next morning.

Emma was pacing outside of Regina's house and waited for her to come to the door. Regina had called Emma a few hours ago and told her to be at her house, no excuses. So there Emma was getting very impatient with Regina with her Sheriff badge on her hip.

Emma stopped pacing, moved right up to the front door, and slammed it as hard as she could.

"Regina, open this damn door!"

She heard movement in the house and then the front door opened. Regina opened the door and wore what she considered to be casual. To her, casual was wearing a red blouse, black suit jacket, and dark grey slacks.

"Miss Swan, you're fully capable of ringing the doorbell, aren't you?"

"Don't you 'Miss Swan' me, Regina."

She blocked the entrance and Emma put her foot in the door.

They were so close to each other at this point that if Emma moved a little closer, their bodies would touch.

"You called me over here and now you won't even let me in the door. What the hell?"

"Talking to you doesn't require me to let you into my house."

Emma let out a frustrated sigh, "Regina, I told you that I couldn't make it because I was with Hook."

"Miss Swan, you knew how important it was to make it to dinner." Regina said flatly and Emma saw the rage she felt through her eyes.

"If you didn't want to come, then you should've notified me a few days prior and not the day of the dinner." Regina snapped at Emma and raised her hand that was now glowing.

Emma kept her eyes focused on Regina's hand, "Regina, I would've told you sooner if I could."

"That's not acceptable, Miss Swan. You should've put in more effort."

Emma lifted her arms up to defend herself as she saw the glow turn brighter. After the light had faded away, Emma thought she would have part of her clothes burnt. They weren't in front of Regina's house anymore.

Oh no.


	2. Chapter 2

"Regina, why are we in the Enchanted Forest?" Emma asked with a confused looked on her face.

"Why do you think I'd have the answer to that? I had nothing to do with this!"

Regina said as she turned to look at Emma and extinguished her magic.

Emma had put her arms down in a relaxed position, zipped up her jacket, and shoved her hands into her jean pockets.

"I know you miss this place, but I didn't think you'd send us back."

"As I said before, I didn't bring us here nor did I intend to hurt you with my magic. It was a scare tactic that you apparently believed."

Emma chuckled, "For a second there, I thought you were going to go Evil Queen on my ass."

Right as Emma had said that, there were sounds of multiple horses walking at a decent pace.

Regina used her magic to quickly disguise herself so that Emma was the only one that could see her true form. To everyone else, Regina still had her olive skin, but now had green eyes with long fiery red hair that flowed freely down her back. She didn't have the scar on her lip, something that was a part of her identity. Besides her physical appearance, she was still the Mayor of Storybrooke and wore the clothes she had on when she was arguing with Emma.

That sound was all too familiar to Regina's ears, and a voice that she hadn't heard for a long time spoke.

"Who are you and why trespassing in my forest?"

The velvety voice asked and saw the figure being helped by a knight in black armor stepping out of the carriage. Emma looked from Regina to the Evil Queen and back again. The Evil Queen, in all of her glory, stood in front of them.

"I'm not going to repeat myself." She spoke and was trying to create a façade for the newcomers.

"Hello Your Majesty, I'm Emma and I have been sent here from our world."

"And where exactly is this place that you're from?"

"We're from a place that isn't of this realm."

Her eyes wandered from Emma and then focused on Regina.

"What is your name then if her name is Emma?"

Emma looked at Regina and then back at the Evil Queen.

"Her name is Raena and I'm her knight from our world." Regina silently applauded Emma for her quick thinking. The Evil Queen looked Emma up and down again.

The Evil Queen laughed,"Her knight? You don't look like a knight either and I doubt a queen would have you in her service."

She focused her attention on Regina, "Raena, your name might mean "Queen", but you are no queen or any other type of royalty from what I can see." She smirked at Regina and her attention was focused back on Emma again.

Emma clenched her fists and Regina hoped she wouldn't let her anger take control. Regina knew that Emma wanted to fight, but she gave her a look that helped her calm down. Emma knew very well that the Evil Queen had great power in the Enchanted Forest and that she shouldn't test her.

The Evil Queen signaled her guards to surround them. "Well, as much as I enjoy this talk, I'm on my way back to my castle." She paused a moment and continued, "For interrupting me on my carriage ride and causing such an inconvenience, I'm going to make you my prisoners until I figure out what to do with the both of you."

When she said the words _both of you_ , it made it sound like she was purring and Regina saw how her eyes lingered on Emma. The Evil Queen had a knight help her back into her carriage and had them follow behind. The walk wasn't as painful as Regina thought it would be since she had worn flats. Even if the material for their clothes was strange to her, the Evil Queen never mentioned it.

As the castle came into view, Emma quietly whispered, "How are we going to get out of this?"

Regina sighed, "I don't know, Emma."

When they had finally arrived at the castle with the Evil Queen, the guards escorted them down to the dungeons while the rest had followed her into the castle.

"Regina, this might be a good time to think of a plan right now."Emma whispered after the guards had left them in the dungeon jail that they shared.

Before Regina was able to answer her, she heard footsteps that were descending down the stone stairs. She saw the black material of the Evil Queen's dress come into view first and saw how those eyes were piercing into hers and Emma's souls.

She was known as the Evil Queen in the Enchanted Forest, but to Regina, she was her former self. The Evil Queen was the part of her that she had tried her hardest to bury in her chest for Henry.

Regina stood at her full height and Emma stood right next to her as they both stared at the Evil Queen.

"You two will be a nice addition to my dungeon."


	3. Chapter 3

Even if the Evil Queen was Regina's past self, her mannerisms were only a little bit similar to the mannerisms Regina had adopted since she lived in Storybrooke.

The Evil Queen had excused herself by saying that she had to attend court and two guards had remained sitting at a table across from them. She ascended the staircase.

Regina sighed, "I don't recommend sitting down on the floor, Emma."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Come on Regina, I doubt there will be anything down here that I can't handle."

Emma saw that Regina wanted to sit down, but didn't want to risk getting her clothes dirty.

She unzipped her jacket and laid it down next to her, "You can sit now if you want." Emma said nonchalantly as she slowly sat down on the dirt floor.

Regina turned to look at Emma and said, "I haven't been called Regina in a very long time, Emma. The last time I was called that was the moment when I ripped my father's heart out of his chest in order to enact the curse."

Emma wanted to comfort her so badly. She moved a little closer to Regina, "It's freezing cold in here. Did you ever consider that your prisoners would freeze before they were executed or whatever?"

"You've to remember that I didn't care whether people froze to death or not in here. The only thing that mattered to me was that I got what I wanted. If my prisoners were important to me, then I'd give them a pillow and a blanket. You're lucky that you still have your clothes."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'd either make my prisoner change into rags or have them wear no clothes at all. Most of my prisoners had sworn their loyalty to Snow White, so I'd make an example of them. I had executed many people when I was their Queen."

"Since you know your past self so well, then we should have no problem getting out of here."

"I wish that would make everything easier, but it won't. I can't do anything to change my fate and neither can you. I have to know where we are in my timeline to know where we go from here."

Emma wanted to lighten the mood and not have Regina dwelling too much on her past.

"I think your past self was checking me out."

Regina rolled her eyes,"If she had any interest in you, then it would be to manipulate you into doing what she wanted. She'd make a deal with you that you couldn't refuse, just like Rumple. You would do whatever she wanted willingly or she would control you by ripping out your heart. The worst case scenario is that she would crush your heart to ash."

"Is there a scenario where she would have me released as a prisoner?" Emma asked, hopefully.

"Perhaps, but you would need to find favor in her eyes. So far, you're not giving her much of a reason to keep you except that you're not from her world."

"Jeez Regina, have some faith in me! I was able to win you over with my charm a while back, so I know I can win over the Evil Queen too."

"Oh Emma, you can be such a fool! You're lucky that she hasn't found out who you really are or else you would be in a much worse position than you are right now."

Emma was about to open her mouth to say something else, but then a purple cloud of smoke appeared in the front of their cell.

The Evil Queen smirked, "I don't want my prisoners to be too comfortable here." Her eyes lingered on Emma as she said it.

Regina stood up, dusted herself off, and straightened her skirt. "I don't believe that myself or my knight have done any crime against you, Your Majesty."

The Evil Queen glared at Regina, "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? I'm the Queen, I don't need a reason to keep you here." She opened her hand and a fireball appeared, "If you know what's good for you, then you wouldn't want to anger me."

She raised her hand as if to throw it at Regina, but Emma stood in between them. "Would you really attack someone when they are defenseless, Your Majesty? You don't seem like the type to resort to that."

Regina was holding her breath as she was waiting for her past self to respond to Emma. The fireball was extinguished, "I didn't think you'd have the audacity to challenge a queen while being her prisoner let alone risk your life to save this woman who masquerades herself as a queen."

"She's worth the risk and I'd protect her with my life against anybody who threatens her."

The Evil Queen raised her eyebrow, "You must believe that she's truly worth protecting if you'd stand up to the Evil Queen."

"She's worth a lot more than she thinks and as her knight, I'll always protect my queen."

The Evil Queen smirked, "Everybody has their breaking point, dear. Your loyalty for her will wane eventually and then I will make you mine. I will make you a deal, knight. If you can stay loyal to her for an entire month, then I will let you both go. If you fail, then I will keep you here with me as my personal knight and your 'queen' will be executed."

Emma clenched her fists at her side and wanted to punch that smirk right off of the Evil Queen's face. She felt a hand grip onto her wrist and Regina spoke so quietly that even the Evil Queen couldn't hear her.

"Emma, you can't trust her at her word. You need to have her do a Blood Oath in order for her to keep her word. A Blood Oath is unbreakable and there are dire consequences for those who try to break them. She is capable of monstrous acts, so you need to be prepared for anything."

"Why are you explaining any of this to me? I thought you'd want me to fail."

"I usually wouldn't care, but my fate is in your hands as well." Regina snapped at Emma.

"You tell me that you're different from the Evil Queen, but right now, you are acting exactly like her!" Emma moved her arm so that Regina would let go of her wrist and she didn't turn around to see how her comment had affected Regina.

"You have yourself a deal, but I want you to make a Blood Oath with me."

"Oh? You don't trust me?" The Evil Queen began to laugh. "Very well, knight. Come over here and stick your arm out in order to make this official."

Emma stuck her arm out of the cell and the Evil Queen had taken out a small dagger. She used the dagger on Emma's wrist and cut a symbol on it before speaking words in another language.

The symbol appeared on her wrist and it looked as though it was burnt onto Emma's skin like she had branded Emma as hers.

She had done the same thing to herself and then pressed their wrists together. It burned even more than before and after a few seconds had passed, she moved her wrist away. "The Blood Oath is complete."

Emma winced a little as she traced the mark that was going to remain on her skin until this was over.

"You're not going to succeed. Even your 'queen' doesn't think you will." The Evil Queen said.

She snapped her fingers and the door opened, "You're going to come with me and I will get you much better attire than what you're wearing now." She looked at Emma's clothes with disgust.

"The last thing that I want is that you treat Raena as though she is royalty as well and to not keep her down here."

"No, she will remain down here, but I will make it more suitable to live in here. I wouldn't want her to ruin her outfit. I will come visit her each night to make sure that she is comfortable. My patience is wearing thin, so I suggest you leave with me now." The Evil Queen snapped at Emma and followed the Evil Queen up the stone staircase.


	4. Chapter 4

Emma took one look at Regina and felt even more determined to prove to her and the Evil Queen that they were wrong about her. She was a hell of alot stronger than they gave her credit for.

After Emma had left with the Evil Queen, Regina threw her leather jacket at the cell door. That woman had just made a deal with the Devil! Does Emma think Regina can just sit here while she goes off to play the Saviour?Emma really was so naive by thinking that she can defeat the Evil Queen so easily! Emma had only met her a few times and had heard stories from her parents, but it was completely different when faced with the real woman.

After the two of them had left, Regina felt herself begin to shiver again. She put on Emma's filthy coat even though she loathed it with a passion. She zipped it up and noticed that it was longer than the jackets she wore. It gave her enough room that she could sit on it without ruining her skirt.

One of the guards cleared his throat, "Her Majesty wanted to make sure that you were comfortable while remaining here." He signaled the other guard to open the door and he brought in a decent sized bed with warm looking blankets. There were two pillows on top and the other guard had brought in a tub to bathe in.

"You must be a very important prisoner because I haven't seen the Queen ever allow someone to live like this." The guard sounded envious of Regina's accommodations and Regina couldn't help, but smirk.

The one thing Regina was grateful about Emma was that she could be persuasive when she wanted to be. She doubted that Emma would be able to persuade her past self to let them go though.

Regina laid down on the bed and covered herself with as many blankets as she could in order to stay warm. She told herself that the only reason she kept Emma's jacket on was because it reminded her of Henry and she knew that she was going to make it back to him even without Emma's help.

If Regina was to be visited each night by the Evil Queen, then Regina was going to use that time to get to know her. The more information she could get might help her be a step ahead of Emma.

She was preparing herself for the worst which meant that she would have to rescue herself. Part of her was concerned about Emma, but only because she knew that Henry would hate her if she didn't bring his other mother back with her.

Ever since Emma had come back into Henry's life, he has begun telling Regina how much he loved her again. He wanted to spend as much time with Regina as possible too.

The information that the Evil Queen had given to Regina wasn't helping her figure out where she was in the timeline. Regina wasn't allowed to use her magic because it would easily give her away as to who she really was. If she used her magic, she would have easily escaped this pathetic excuse for a prison. At least the guards would leave her alone and she could spend the silence thinking of what she would say to her past self.

Regina knew she would be worth a lot more than Emma if the Evil Queen found out that Regina was her from the future. If luck was on Regina's side, then she'd let Regina be with her in the castle instead of down here.

Regina closed her eyes and imagined what Henry was doing now. She could imagined him coming up with a code name for the mission of bringing Emma and her back to him. If he could only bring one of them back, then would he choose Emma? Regina shook her head hoping to rid herself of that ugly thought.

Regina made herself comfortable on the bed and felt just how exhausted she was from today's events.

"Good night, Henry." Regina whispered before she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I honestly have been wanting to complete this fic for a while, but I was pretty devastated when I was stuck. I will do everything I can to complete this fic! I'm not sure how long it will be, so thank you for all of your patience!**

 **Trigger Warning: There are a few violent scenes that involve a hand being broken/burned and choking.**

The Evil Queen was expecting Emma to be following her as she made her way through the castle, so she didn't bother looking behind her. Emma was taking note as to where she was and tried to make a map in her mind. Although she could have just asked Regina what the layout was, she felt safer knowing it herself. What if Regina was unable to communicate with her and Emma had to get them out on her own?

Emma was watching how the servants had avoided them like they had the black plague. One of the servants had dropped a large plate full of fruit and Emma almost bumped into the Evil Queen, who stopped immediately. She turned around so quickly that Emma thought she would knock her over.

A fireball appeared in her hand, "You dropped food that I was going to eat in a few hours!" The servant tried to pick up the fruit and put it on the plate. One of the fruits rolled all the way to the Evil Queen, who watched as the servant crawled over to grab it.

They weren't fast enough and she placed her heel on their hand. The terrified expression that the servant wore was visibly clear to Emma. The blonde wanted to do anything to stop her, but she could risk everything by doing so. Instead, she had to sadly watch what would happen to the servant.

The crushing of bone caused by the Evil Queen's heel seemed to echo throughout the kitchen. The scream pierced everyone's ears that were in the kitchen, but nobody tried to cover their ears. Any movement might cause the Evil Queen's rage to be directed at them.

To add to injury, the fireball had surrounded the hand and burnt it to the point where it turned to ash. The servant cradled what was left, which was just a stump that was cauterized. The Evil Queen bent down, "I hope you learned your lesson, peasant. All that fruit is ruined and will have to be thrown out! Since I am in a good mood, I won't have the guards throw you out with the trash."

A _good_ _mood_? Emma cringed at the thought of what she was like in a _bad_ _mood_. She watched in silence as the two black guards watched as the servant picked up the rest of the fruit and brought it out a back door. They made sure that the job was done the right way.

The Evil Queen turned to Emma, "That was quite a delay." She continued down the hall passed the kitchen. She yelled at the servants walking around the kitchen, "Get out of my way, vermin!" Each one of them focused their attention on the ground and mumbled a "Your Majesty" as she walked by.

Finally, The Evil Queen stopped when she was in front of two large wooden doors with golden trim on them. The doors opened at a flick of her wrist and Emma saw the large King sized bed with a canopy. Everything around her would have been shrouded in darkness if not for the balcony, that looked out over a part of the castle, let sunlight in. There was a fire place on the opposite side of the bed that remained unlit.

Emma knew of Regina's liaisons and had no desire to be one of them. She could make her own decisions and she'd be damned if she let the Evil Queen make that type of choice for her.

The Evil Queen sat on the edge of her bed that had silky dark purple sheets on it. She watched Emma closely. "You are probably the first to come directly to my bedchamber. Not many are given the privilege of ending up even close to where you are at this very moment. I see why Raena keeps you around."

She paused for a moment before making a motion with her finger which was telling Emma to turn around. Emma reluctantly did as she was told and turned around so that the Evil Queen could see her in her white tank top and jeans. She saw the look in the other woman's eyes as she took in the sight of the blonde.

"Something must be done about whatever monstrosity you are wearing. This is not suitable for you."

The Evil Queen waved her hand again and Emma was naked before her.

"Hey!" Emma was trying to cover herself as much as possible. She kept repeatedly telling herself not to blush from embarrassment. It would be something that the Evil Queen could use against her.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of. I bet your 'queen' hasn't had the _pleasure_ of seeing you like this. I have seen many naked women in my day, but you are stunning." She purred.

The blonde wasn't a fan of the way the brunette was treating her. Regina had told her to prepare herself, but how was she to know she'd end up in a position like this? So vulnerable. She was trying to prepare herself for anything else that the other woman could do to her.

"Your hands belong at your sides, not covering yourself up."

The Evil Queen stood up and began approaching Emma as the blonde put her hands down at her side like she was told to do. When she was right in front of Emma, she gripped her jaw and didn't see the fear that she expected to see in her blue eyes.

"You're even more stunning up close. I have slightly underestimated you, Emma. Usually by now, I could hear some begging, but you haven't made any protest. Do you _like_ this?"

"I'm not used to being naked in front of someone."

"If you queen truly valued you, then she would take advantage of your beauty."

Emma held her breath as the Evil Queen released her and had her fingers tracing her jaw. The Evil Queen had her gaze follow her fingers as they made their way to Emma's throat. Those fingers were closing around Emma's neck and she could feel the oxygen being cut off. With her magic, Emma was raised above the ground slightly.

"I have the power to end your life if I wanted to, but this Blood Oath is stopping me from doing so. Even though I cannot end your life, I can make it so that you are left begging for me to do it. There are so many things that I can do to you and Raena wouldn't be able to stop me."

Emma was struggling to keep herself composed. She had to prove to the Evil Queen that she was as strong, if not stronger than anyone she has faced. The Evil Queen waited a few seconds before she released Emma, who fell straight to the cold floor.

The younger woman was trying to catch her breathe as she inhaled as much oxygen as possible. She was on her hands and knees coughing. What the hell was this woman playing at? Emma hadn't been this infuriated in a long time and every part of her was telling her to clock the other woman in the face. She felt a sharp heel dig into her back.

"This position is my favorite, it is very fitting for you." She removed her heel from Emma's back. Emma wouldn't be surprised if she had a nasty bruise on her back in a few hours, if not sooner.

"From now on, I will choose what clothes you will wear. Stand up."

Emma stood up and glared at the Evil Queen. She didn't care at this point if she got a fireball to the head. She wanted to show her that she could be defiant.

"That glare of yours should never grace your face unless you want me to cut up that pretty face of yours. I don't think Raena would appreciate it if I brought her back damaged goods."

She tapped her finger against her lips, "A little warning to her wouldn't do much harm."

Emma wanted to run out of the bedroom as she saw the Evil Queen's hand glow purple. It was a relief to see it wasn't a fireball for once, but she knew how dangerous her magic was. The Evil Queen slammed the doors shut and all that was heard was Emma screaming.


	6. Chapter 6

Regina froze when she saw the Evil Queen come down with Emma in rags. She was practically dragging her down the stairs and made sure that each step was painful for the blonde. She had heard Emma's screams, even from down below. She had forgotten what cruelty she had her victims suffer through. As she saw Emma's face, she could only imagine what suffering she had to deal with. Emma had a black eye, a split lip, and some bruising around her jaw. Regina would've been surprised if that was the extent of her injuries, but it wasn't. The rest of her injuries must be hidden underneath those rags that probably were itchy and sensitive to Emma's skin.

The metal doors open and the Evil Queen threw Emma into the cell without looking back as she ascending the stairs. Regina had barely caught her before she fell onto the hard ground. As terrible as Emma looked at this moment, Regina could see the fire burning in her eyes. The brunette helped Emma onto the bed and swept her blonde curls out of her eyes.

The blonde didn't say anything, but rested her cheek on Regina's shoulder. In any other situation, Regina would've pushed her away, but she didn't at a time like this. She was stroking her hair to try to comfort Emma.

"Emma…"

"I don't want to hear your voice right now, please. It just reminds me of _her_." Emma said it through gritted teeth. The intense pain she was feeling was something that told her that she was still alive. She knew that the Evil Queen couldn't kill her, but she thought she had been damn well close to it.

Regina didn't say another word as she wanted to help Emma with her wounds that her former self had caused. She hesitantly reached out to touch Emma's shoulder and was relieve when the younger woman didn't flinch from her touch.

She made it so that Emma's back was facing her and slowly lifted up the back of the tunic that was made of rags. There was a gasp from her which was out of character. There were so many red marks all over her back. Some wounds were deeper than others. She couldn't tell if they were done by a blade or a whip by how brutal they were. If only she could use her magic to heal Emma. She didn't dare touch any of them as they looked so angry.

As she pulled the tunic down, she did her best not to touch any of the cuts. Regina glanced down to see that Emma didn't have any shoes on. Her feet looked more damaged than they should have been. They too had cuts on them. Her hands were grimey looking, but other then that, no harm was done to them.

There was surely more that was done to Emma, but Regina wasn't going to overstep her bounds. Thankfully, there wasn't any signs that she was aware of that would hint to anything sexual done to her.

Emma turned around to look at Regina with such a sadness that there wasn't a way that the brunette could accurately describe it. She wanted to hold her in her arms, but didn't in fear of hurting Emma further.

The night was very rough for Emma, even as she laid in the bed in the bed with Regina holding her close. She had been sweating profusely, shaking a bit despite it not being cold. The two of them were barely able to sleep a few hours before Emma cried out again. Regina thought she was having a nightmare until she felt something wet on her chest. She moved away from Emma and in the light, she saw that Emma's back was damp.

Regina carefully lifted up the back of Emma's tunic once more and saw that her wounds were weeping. She never thought that this would happen so soon, but she wasn't surprised because of how fast infection had set in. Since Regina knew that the Evil Queen had used magic, anything was possible.

She cursed herself for not trying to help Emma with her wounds, but she was cautious about it. She poured fresh water in the tub and tried to gently dab at Emma's wound, who hissed the moment that the cloth came into contact with her skin.

No matter how much Regina tried to take care of Emma's wounds, it was like she had done nothing at all. In fact, it kept getting worse. Emma was close to tears from the pain.

"Your Majesty,!" Regina shouted.

She didn't care if anything would happen to her in this moment because her only concern was Emma.

There was dark purple smoke and the Evil Queen appeared before her. She looked menacing, even with her robe on. The guards had left the instant that the Evil Queen came down the steps.

"You look so pitiful, trying to help Emma. No matter what you do, she will get worse. Maybe you should just surrender and give Emma to me. I can heal her instantly with my magic. It's a powerful thing, magic."

She paused as she entered the cell and Regina felt Emma flinch. If Emma could, she would disappear into Regina so that she wouldn't have to face her tormentor again. Just the sound of those damn heels on the ground were enough to scare her.

"I would even make it so that you wouldn't get executed, but remain my prisoner down here. You won't live worse than this, I can promise that. Don't you see? I'm not as cruel as everyone makes me out to be."

She leaned in closer so that both Regina and Emma could hear. "I'm much worse."


	7. Chapter 7

The Evil Queen stood back up and rubbed her forehead, "It's late and although I would love to torture you again, Emma, I need to sleep.I will heal you, but it's only so we can _play_ later."

"Emma needs more appropriate clothing. You wouldn't want to ruin her skin, would you?"

The Evil Queen had an angry look on her face. "I'm capable of turning your insides out. Never speak to me like that again! I will give her better clothing, but only because I love the way her precious flesh turns red."

Emma's wounds had completely healed as the Evil Queen left the dungeon in a puff of smoke. Regina felt relief as the blonde's clothes went from rags to a dress shirt and pants. It looked similar to what her father wore back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Thank you, Regina."

Emma was facing her and actually looked a little nervous. She held onto Regina for dear life and the brunette held her closer. The sobs were muffled by Emma burying her face in Regina's neck.

"I hate the position that I put you in. If I had known that she…"

"Yeah, but you didn't. I don't blame you. Just promise me that when you see Henry again, tell him.."

"No, don't you dare talk like that. We are both going home to him." Regina said gently.

"He needs you, Regina, he doesn't need me. You were the one that raised him since birth. Who am I compared to you? I come into his life when he's ten. You even told me that I wasn't fit to be a mother."

Regina frowned, "That was before, Emma. You have grown since then and I have seen a change in you. You are becoming a good mother. Do you think I woke up one day knowing how to care for Henry? I made many mistakes as a parent, but I learned from them."

Emma was too weak to argue any further and nodded her head sleepily. All the sobbing had drained her of all of her energy.

"Can we go to sleep, Regina?"

"Of course."

Regina wrapped her arms around Emma as they laid down on the bed. She pulled the warm blankets over the two of them and closed their eyes.

They were able to dream about being far away from this hellish place and back at home with Henry.

"Aren't you two love birds the most adorable things?" The Evil Queen said in a sarcastic tone. She was looking down at them and Regina opened her eyes first. She wanted Emma to get a bit more rest.

"She can't hear us. I wanted to speak to you privately, so for now, she'll stay asleep."

"You didn't put her under the sleeping curse, did you?"

"I can't have fun with my little play thing if I did." Her eyes had a lusty gaze as her eyes focused on Emma for a split second before looking at Regina again.

"She's not yours to have."

"Oh? You can't claim her if I already have her in my clutches. Who are you to tell a queen what she can and cannot do? Must I remind you of the power that I have?"

Regina got out of the bed and made sure that Emma was comfortable. She stood right in front of the Evil Queen.

"And I'm supposed to be scared of you because you have magic?"

The Evil Queen was taller than Regina in her heels, "I can kill you just a flick of my wrist." She demonstrated by doing just that, but nothing happened.

"What is happening? You should be dead!"

"You forgot that when it comes to magic, you can't hurt yourself."

Regina had the purple smoke surround her and revealed what she actually looked like to the Evil Queen.

The Evil Queen let out a growl, "Don't think that this is over because it's far from it." She put a black bracelet on Regina's wrist which stopped her from using magic. The Evil Queen is the only one that could remove it.

"Well Regina, I won't allow you to have your happy ending. Emma is mine."

A purple cloud surrounded herself and Emma. Regina tried to grab onto Emma as she disappeared, but failed. She was supposed to protect Emma, yet the blonde woman was gone.

She was going to get out of this prison and get Emma back even without her magic. She was a strong woman with or without her magic. She promised Emma that they would both return home and she was going to see to that.

Emma was stirring from her sleep and reached over to find Regina, but she wasn't there. She opened her eyes more and saw that she wasn't in the prison anymore. Instead, she was in the Evil Queen's bed and she tried to get out of it as soon as possible.

As she made her way to the door, giant chains came out of the floor. Emma was stuck in the middle of the room by these chains holding her captive. She had shackles on her wrists and her ankles.

"Raena or should I say Regina revealed herself to me. She wanted to save your measly life. I don't understand what would make you _worth_ anything. She's not in love with you. The only person she and I had ever loved was Daniel. Trust me, you are far from being him."

Emma remembered Regina telling her how Cora had ripped out his heart and crushed it. She cradled his dead body in her arms. Her happy ending had supposedly ended there.

"I never tried to be Daniel!"

The Evil Queen slapped Emma so hard that some blood landed on her shirt.

"You have no right to say ever say his name!"

She paced back and forth angrily. Today was the anniversary of Daniel's death and she wouldn't let anybody say his name to her. She wouldn't be surprised if her other self was remembering today as well.

Regina held on tighter to Emma's jacket. She was actually crying. Was she crying for herself? Emma? Daniel? Henry?

The tears went from being ones of sadness to anger. She would let her former self know what true evil was.

She called a guard over and demanded that he open the door at once. He ignored her until she said that she had to use the restroom.

"Your Majesty? How did you end up in here? The prisoner has escaped!" The two guards were so confused.

"Will you let me out or will you keep standing there like an idiot? Open this door immediately!" Regina snapped.

Both guards had their helmet off. One of them opened it and the moment he did, Regina punched him in the face. The guard fell over, backed up right into the other guard, and they broke the wooden table.

Regina winced and silently applauded Emma for her skills in knocking people out. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could and did everything she could to get to Emma before it was too late.


	8. Chapter 8

Regina reached the Evil Queen's bedroom and could hear Emma talking. She pushed open the large doors and was face to face with the Evil Queen. Regina had anger flowing through her body when she saw Emma chained like an animal.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina snapped at the Evil Queen.

"Oh, how lovely it is that you decided to join us." The Evil Queen said nonchalantly as though Regina was late to dinner.

Regina cursed under her breath, "Release her."

"Or what? You can't use your magic at all to save her."

"I don't need my magic to defeat you."

The Evil Queen scoffed.

Emma watched as Regina had rushed The Evil Queen, but noticed that the Evil Queen did nothing. She seemed too curious to figure out what she might do.

Regina had punched the other woman as hard as she could.

The Evil Queen was wiping the blood off of the side of her mouth.

"I didn't think you had it is in you."

"It appears that you don't know me at all."

"Oh but I _do_ know you. You are me."

"I might be you, but I am not who I used to be."

"And how has this changed, exactly?"

"Our son."

"Son?"

"Yes, Emma and I have a son together. His name is Henry, after my father."

The Evil Queen pursed her lips, "That is a very fitting name for your son."

Regina looked at Emma, who tried to give her a reassuring smile, despite bleeding some from her mouth after the Evil Queen had slapped her.

"Nice punch, Regina."

"Thank you, Miss Swan."

For a moment there, it felt like the two of them were actually getting along.

"As I said before, I'm the only one that can take that wristband off of you, Regina."

"I want to make a deal with you."

"Oh? I didn't know that Emma was that precious to you."

With another flick of the Evil Queen's wrist, Emma felt the chains pull her down until she was on her knees.

"You're hurting her!" Regina shouted.

"Why do you care? She's not our happy ending. Did you not forget what today is?"

"Of course not. I know that today marks Daniel's death."

"You're insulting his memory by trying to rescue Emma."

"Daniel's dead and he's never coming back. I tried and it failed. Emma is _who_ I care about."

The Evil Queen had a fireball in her hand, "How dare you speak ill of him!"

Regina was standing her ground, "Daniel wanted us to move on and find someone that we love."

"How could you love this...this woman? What's so significant about her?"

"She's different than Daniel, but she has a heart just like his. She might be a pain at times and maybe she is stubborn as crazy, but she is willing to fight for _my_ happiness. Have you not seen how much she did all she could to keep me safe? Can you say that anyone would do that for you?"

The Evil Queen was taken back by what Regina had said.

"What new deal do you want to make?"

"I want you to release Emma and allow her to return home."

"No, I would rather send you home."

"Henry needs both of his mothers!"

"I overheard you talking to Emma that you were the one raising Henry, not here. I'm sure that Henry will _need_ you more than he will ever need her."

It was like the Evil Queen spat the word, "her" when speaking to Regina.

"Do it."

"Emma?"

"Just do it, Regina, go home."

"No, I'm not leaving you!"

"It's okay, I'll be fine, Regina."

"You won't be okay! You're already chained like an animal."

"I have been in worse situations."

Regina walked over to Emma and bent down, "Don't try to be the hero this time. You're coming home with me."

Emma looked up at Regina with tears in her eyes, "You have to go. Trust me, Henry needs you. You can use a spell to erase his memory so that I don't exist. You did it before with everyone, so just do it again."

"I can't, Henry would never forgive me, Emma."

"You have to, please. I wouldn't be begging you like this, but please, Regina. If you really care about me as much as you say you do, then you'll do this."

"Emma…"

"If you don't do this for me, then I will _never_ forgive you."

Regina stood up and approached the Evil Queen again.

"Let me return to Henry. Emma will stay here, but I want there to be a reasonable time limit."

"A year."

"That sounds a bit too long."

"I think it's a good amount of time. If she makes it through the year, then I will return her. If she disobeys me once, I will have you present at her execution. I won't, however, have Henry witness it."

"Deal." Emma said.

"Very well then." The Evil Queen said as she had a magic bean appear in her hand after she extinguished the fireball in her hand. She threw it on the floor and the portal opened up. She made the wristband disappear from Regina's wrist.

"You better leave now before I change my mind and keep her here forever."

Regina looked at Emma one more time, "I will always find you."

Emma nodded, "You better."

 **xxx**

Regina jumped through the portal and had landed outside in front of her house, the exact spot where her and Emma had been arguing when this all started. She heard the door open and Henry ran outside as fast as he could.

"Mom, you're back! Where's Emma?"

Regina stood up and dusted herself off, "Henry, I have to tell you something."

"What? Mom, where's Emma? I tried looking for her…"

"She's with the Evil Queen."

"No! How could you leave her?" Henry shouted.

"Henry, listen to me. Emma sacrificed herself so that I could come home."

He was crying and Regina wiped his tears away.

"She didn't have to be the stupid hero this time, Mom."

"You're right, Sweetie, but that's what a Charming is, a hero."

"Will she ever come back?"

"Yes, she has a year. If Emma doesn't listen to the Evil Queen within the year then…"

Regina didn't want to say that Emma was going to die.

"Then what? You can tell me, I can handle it."

"She would put Emma to death."

"Emma wouldn't let that happen. If she promised to come home, she will. She has to come back because I miss you two fighting over me. I miss it when you would get upset with her and call her 'Miss Swan'. I want to see you talk smack about Emma's clothes and her yellow bug."

Henry couldn't stop crying and Regina held onto him for dear life.

"You're right Henry, she'll make it. She made it this far and she's not the type to give up this easily."

 **xxx**

A few months had passed and Emma wasn't worse for wear like she had imagined. The Evil Queen didn't treat her like complete shit like before. Emma was on her knees next to the mirror that the Evil Queen sat at. She pulled at the metallic collar that was locked in place and it was impossible to find an opening. It was like it had been sealed around her throat, permanently.

"No matter how much you fight to try to get that off of you, it will only constrict further."

Emma felt it tighten around her neck and she was gasping for air before a purple glow surrounded the collar and it returned to its original size.

The blonde was inhaling as much as oxygen as possible.

The Evil Queen looked down at Emma and clutched tightly onto her hair, "Be a good girl and sit there quietly. You don't want to know what I will do if you don't."

Emma didn't reply immediately and she felt the Evil Queen pull her hair.

"I'll be a good girl."

"Say it."

"No."

She felt the Evil Queen pull her head back, "Say it."

"Your Majesty."

"Good."

Emma felt her release her hair and did everything she could not to cry out of frustration.

She could handle as much physical pain as the Evil Queen would do to her, but there was no way in hell that she wouldn't put up a fight.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: There will be graphic violence mentioned involving self harming and the Evil Queen harming Emma.**

 **I will sum up what happened in the next paragraph for those who didn't read this chapter.**

The Evil Queen was attending court and Emma was kneeling on the floor next to her. It was completely humiliating to her, but she held her tongue. She didn't want to get hurt anymore by the Evil Queen. Although she couldn't leave permanent injuries on Emma's body, she still made sure that Emma was in agony.

To make things worse, whenever the Evil Queen had done anything to physically harm Emma, she would heal her afterwards. Then she would repeat the process all over again until Emma's body gave out.

Emma glanced at the mark that was left from the Blood Oath between her and the Evil Queen. She did everything to keep hope. No matter what, she was going to make it back to Regina and Henry.

After court was dismissed, Emma followed the Evil Queen to the dining room. It had a long table that could easily fit at least twenty people at it if not more. Emma was sitting on the floor next to the Evil Queen while her royal highness was eating.

"You look hungry."

Emma didn't reply.

"I can make this easy for you or hard."

"I am hungry, Your Majesty."

"Isn't that a pity?"

Emma clenched her teeth.

"I bet you want something to eat."

The Evil Queen put a drumstick in front of Emma's face. The Savior would've done anything to reach out to grab it, but she wasn't going to give into this woman. She heard her stomach growl and kept concentrating on not breaking under the Evil Queen's control.

"I'm not giving in just because you offer me a drumstick."

"Suit yourself then, Princess."

Emma stayed silent as the Evil Queen continued eating.

She was so damn hungry that she bit her tongue until it bled. She tasted the bitter metallic taste in her mouth. It was so disgusting, but it was the only thing keeping her from giving in and allowing the Evil Queen to give her food.

The one thing that the Evil Queen didn't tell Emma was that if she did any harm to herself, then there will be scars.

During the first few weeks, Emma hadn't moved, and easily became emaciated. The Evil Queen saw to it that Emma was healthy and used her magic so that Emma didn't have to be physically fed. As time passed, Emma would bite her arm very hard to keep her from eating anything that the Evil Queen gave her. She knew that none of the food was poisoned, but she couldn't trust it for sure. She knew that the Evil Queen couldn't _kill_ her, but she could do everything else to her.

After the Evil Queen had finished eating, she stood up, "Come to the garden with me." She said it to Emma as though it was a request, but it wasn't.

Emma carefully stood up and was thankful that the Evil Queen had let her wear clothing. She knew that there was a deep fear inside her that the Evil Queen could make it so that she was bare all the time, but she prayed silently to herself that it would never happen.

The Evil Queen had conjured up a leash and attached it to Emma's collar. Emma felt so numb as she walked behind the woman that was her captor. She had lost track of how long she had been here. It felt like ages ago since she had seen Regina and Henry.

Even if the woman before her did look like Regina, it wasn't her. They might look the exact same, but Regina had a softer look to her. The more time away Emma spent from Regina, the more she appreciated her.

The Evil Queen sat down underneath her apple tree and pulled on the leash so that Emma would sit down. Emma closed her eyes as the Evil Queen looked up at the night sky. The young woman was thinking about being back home with Henry and Regina. It was probably time for Henry's birthday by now. After all, it was a couple months off when her and Regina were sent to The Enchanted Forest.

 **xxx**

Henry was blowing out his candles on his birthday cake. Regina didn't have to guess what Henry had wished for. He had wished that Emma would return. She would hear him pray about it at night, even though neither of them believed in God.

They were surrounded by Emma's parents, Ruby, Granny, and Belle. Their loved ones were well aware of what had happened to Emma.

At first, Snow and Charming had blamed Regina until they learned that Emma had sacrificed herself so Henry could have a mother present. Once they overcame that obstacle, the Charmings' and everyone in town tried to come up with a plan until Regina told them about the Blood Oath and risk of Emma's execution.

Regina felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to find Charming trying to give her a sympathetic look, "We all miss her, Regina."

She nodded and Henry hugged her tightly, "Ma will come back. She won't let the Evil Queen win. She's going to win her over just like she won you over, Mom."

Regina gave him a sad smile when he said this, "Emma is strong. She doesn't give up, no matter what."

"Yeah, she didn't leave town."

"I even booted her car."

"She was so mad at you when you did that."

Charming was chuckling, "You two were fighting like cats and dogs."

Snow appeared in the small little group, "Do you remember the time when she gave you a can of soda and put something in it that made it explode in your face?"

"I remember that! Mom almost set Ma on fire."

Regina grimaced at the thought, "Yes, I remember that all too well. She had ruined my hair for the rest of the day."

Charming grinned, "If I remember correctly, when she became Sheriff, she booted your mercedes when you had an very important town meeting."

"She made me late! I'm never late to things."

"I thought you said that a Queen is never late, everybody is just early."

"Yes Dear, that is true. Thank you for reminding me."

Henry's smile was contagious and Reigna couldn't help but smile back at him.

Snow looked at Regina, "Have hope, Regina. Emma will come back to us. Just like you told her before you had to leave, you will always find her and the same applies to you. That's what true love."

"I never said I was in love with her."

"You didn't have to."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: The Evil Queen goes into some graphic detail about how she would torture her prisoners. She's pretty fucking ruthless, but as of right now, I don't want anybody to like her.** **There is a reference to the Evil Queen taking advantage of Emma as well.**

 **I honestly was crying while writing this. I just want to reach through the screen and hold Emma.**

 **Sometimes I wished that emotions didn't exist.** **This is heartbreaking and I'm writing the damn thing.**

 **I don't think I'll be able to write anything as dark as this again nor do I want to.**

 **xxx**

Emma was immediately woken up from her nap by the Evil Queen pulling on her collar. She grudgingly got up and followed her. Her feet were bare and the Evil Queen purposefully walked on rough terrain so that it would cut up Emma's feet. She didn't wince once, especially in front of the Evil Queen.

"I'm not as horrible as people claim that I am."

"Yeah, I can tell," Emma said sarcastically, which rewarded her with a slap to the face.

"You will remember to respect me. I am _your_ Queen."

Emma took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"As I was saying, I am treating you better than the others who have become my prisoner."

"Please enlighten me."

"For instance, you still have all of your limbs intact."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Some prisoners, I leave them so that they are just a head and a torso. They are truly at my mercy then."

"What else do you do?"

"With other prisoners, they become my sex slaves. I don't force them though. They eventually break and give in."

She turned to look at Emma, "I have chosen not to do that with you...yet. I want to savor the moment when I completely _break_ you and then rebuild you into the perfect image of what I desire."

Emma had a fire in her eyes, "I _won't_ give you the satisfaction, no matter how many threats you make. I'm keeping myself restrained because I want to make it home to Regina and my kid."

"Yes, your son, Henry. What is he like?"

Emma didn't want to discuss him with the Evil Queen, but she didn't have a choice.

"He's very brave and doesn't give up, no matter what. He's like my mom, Snow White."

"So you're Snow White's daughter? Impressive."

"What else can you tell me about Henry?"

"He really likes creating names for the "missions" he goes on. He's really smart and has a temper that's not worth competing against. He gets that from you."

The Evil Queen chuckled, "I hope you remember that he's _not_ my son."

"I know, but you're a part of Regina," Emma said with a shrug.

"Yes, but Regina is so different from me. She is so much weaker now. I wonder if she remembers how Mother always said that love was a weakness."

"Love? What are you even saying? Regina's not in love with anybody."

"She's in love with _you_."

"No, that's a lie!" Emma knew that it wasn't, but she didn't want to believe the Evil Queen.

"I can now see what she sees in you. You're a flame that will never extinguish no matter how hard someone will try."

"Pretty ironic that you're using fire analogies seeing as you use fireballs."

"I'm tired of listening to you talk. I think your pretty mouth should be doing something other than talking."

 **xxx**

Regina woke up from a nightmare involving the Evil Queen killing Emma. She clutched tightly onto her comforter as she felt tears falling down her face. She was so damn angry at Emma for being so selfless and having her go back instead of having her remain with her other self.

She heard a knock at the door and saw Henry come in.

"Sweetie, why are you up? You should be in bed?"

"I heard you yell Ma's name, so I came in as soon as I could."

"I'm so sorry, Henry."

Henry had crawled into bed and got under the cover next to Regina.

She felt him hold her hand as he laid his head down on the pillow, "Ma's coming back to us. I can just feel it."

Regina gave him a sad smile, "Of course she is, Henry. She could handle me, so I have no doubt in my mind that she can take on the Evil Queen."

"You're not the Evil Queen, Mom, you know that, right?"

She looked down at Henry in surprise, "You don't think of me as the Evil Queen anymore?"

"No, I stopped when Ma told me to. She said that you were just Regina and that your past shouldn't define who you are."

Regina smiled and kissed Henry's cheek, "Emma is a wonderful woman who never stops surprising me."

"Mom, if you defeated the Evil Queen, then so can Ma. You two are an unstoppable force when you're together. I mean, not together together _._ You know what I mean."

Regina hadn't imagined her and Emma together, but the more that they bickered, the more she noticed that she was falling for the idiot. Maybe it was the way that the blonde smiled at her or the way that Emma always did things to annoy her just to get her to smile. She noticed that Emma loved it when she called the blonde, 'Miss Swan'.

She got under the covers and laid down while staring lovingly at Henry. Regina felt Henry squeeze her hand.

"Don't give up, Mom."

"I won't Henry, I promise."

 **xxx**

Emma felt utterly disgusted with herself as she rolled over so that she wasn't facing the Evil Queen in bed. Normally, the Evil Queen would only use threats that involved something sexual, but this was the first time that the cruel woman had acted on it.

The Evil Queen had forced her to perform such a filthy act on her. Emma knew that it wouldn't be the last, but she wished she could've done something to stop it.

The Savior could feel the Evil Queen's hands all over and she tried to shake her hand to make the image go away. She felt like the Evil Queen had just crushed her heart into dust. This was the worst thing that the Evil Queen had ever done to her. She could handle her torturing her day in and day out, but not this. This was a violation that sunk deeper than anything ever had.

She felt like she was being burned alive when the Evil Queen wrapped her arms around the blonde's body. Emma hated that the other woman was so warm, she hated it that as sick as it sounded, it was comforting her.

No, it wasn't comfort!

What the hell was it?

 **xxx**

Emma remembered reading about Stockholm syndrome in a news article and it described exactly what it was.

 ****Flashback****

Regina was sitting at her desk doing some paperwork while Emma was on her phone scrolling through things.

"Hey Regina, have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?"

She looked up from her papers, "Yes, why do you ask?"

"I just found an article about it. I have heard of the word, but never knew what it meant or anything else."

"Will you inform me of what it means? I have forgotten."

"Sure."

Emma stuck her tongue out as she was concentrating on finding the word.

Regina didn't want to admit that it was somewhat endearing.

"It's a noun that means, "feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor. Why would anybody feel that towards someone like that?"

"It's one of those situations that you have to be in to understand."

"Have you ever been involved in something like that?"

"The kidnapping and hostage-taking situation, yes."

"Who were you kidnapped by?"

"Leopold."

"Oh."

Emma sat upright and frowned.

"Don't you start having pity on me now, Miss Swan. I have moved past that despite it taking a long time to do so."

"Regina, I'm still sorry that it happened to you."

"I never had Stockholm syndrome though."

"I hope I never experience it."

"I hope you don't either, Miss Swan."

 **xxx**

Emma flinched when she felt the Evil Queen nuzzle her neck, it was such an intimate thing.

"I think that you enjoyed that just as much as I did."

The Savior didn't want to look her in the face, "I didn't."

"You say that now, but that's not what your body was telling me."

"I couldn't control what was happening to me!"

"That sounds like a pathetic excuse to me." The Evil Queen said flatly.

Emma turned around in the Evil Queen's arms, "You violated me in a way that I will _never_ forgive you for. How the hell could you do to me what Leopold did to you? Is it some sort of sick and twisted way of "getting back" at him for what he did to you? In case you haven't noticed, there's nothing you can do to make him pay for what he's done!"

The Evil Queen gripped tightly onto Emma's throat and was making it harder for her to breathe.

"I don't ever want his name to pass your lips again. I had him killed the moment I escaped his clutches. It was truly satisfying, especially seeing the look on your mother's face as she had to bury her father so soon after burying her mother. I have a power over you that nobody else has. I am the one that can take your life without a second thought. Don't you dare forget that, Princess Emma."

She held onto her a little longer and released Emma as soon as her lips were about to turn purple.

Emma started coughing and rubbed her throat as she tried to get color back into her face. Without any doubt, Emma knew that it was going to bruise. It was going to be another mark that the Evil Queen put on her.

"I have court to attend to. You should rest here. I wouldn't want you to be useless when I come back."

The Evil Queen used her magic to appear in one of her dark dresses.

Emma didn't move from where she was as dark purple smoke surrounded the Evil Queen.

As the blonde woman laid there in the large bed all alone, she started to cry. She was crying for herself, Henry, and Regina. She wanted to go home and not be in this nightmarish place. She kept telling herself to be strong, but each day was draining her. She felt beyond broken. As much as she tried to fight it, she knew that she was losing this battle. If she lost this battle, then it would take no time at all for her to lose the war.

But she couldn't because if she did, then she would've truly lost who she was.

"I'm coming home, Henry," Emma whispered in the darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

There was less than a weeks left.

Regina had marked off every day on the calendar. It was getting harder and harder to look at it. The worst thing was that today was Emma's birthday.

Regina was tempted to rip the calendar from the wall, but she didn't. She just traced Emma's birthday with her finger. She had marked it with a heart with Emma's name in the middle. That date was marked as something special because it was the day that Regina was going to ask Emma on a date. It was cliche', but she thought it just felt right to do.

Henry raced into Regina's office, "Mom!"

She turned around before Henry almost knocked her over.

"Henry? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"The school was canceled for today. Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for us outside."

She held tightly onto Henry, "Why would they be out there?"

"It's Ma's birthday and since they couldn't celebrate it with her, they wanted to do it with us."

Regina kissed the top of Henry's head, "How are you doing?"

"I miss her so much, Mom. She needs to come home _now_ , I don't think I can wait any longer!"

She brushed the hair out of his face and knelt down in front of Henry, "You need to be brave for her, Sweetheart."

"Why? She's brave enough."

"Yes, but she needs our strength too."

"Can our love save her?"

"Yes, love can do anything. It transcends time and realms."

Henry had a serious look on his face, "We better start sending her our love ASAP."

Regina was do damn proud of her son. She stood up and they walked hand in hand out of her office.

Snow and Charming hugged the two of them.

"We are spending today as a family."

"Family?"

Regina was so confused. These two were always pleasant towards her, but not once did they refer to her as family.

"Yes Regina, you have always been family. I admit that we did a poor job of showing it." Snow said.

"We're here now and that's all that matters now." Charming said.

Regina felt tears in her eyes.

 **xxx**

The four of them had walked towards Granny's Diner. Granny had closed it down for the day so that the four could have peace and quiet.

Regina used her magic to unlock the door and the four of them sat down at a booth that Regina, Emma, and Henry frequently sat in.

There waiting for them was a single cupcake, an exact replica of the one Emma had alone in her apartment all those years ago.

Regina used her magic to conjure up a hologram showing Emma blowing out the candle on her cupcake.

"Happy Birthday, Emma."

For a second, Regina could've sworn that she saw Emma smile at her.

 **xxx**

Emma waited until the Evil Queen had left her before she sat down in front of the large mirror. She learned of a plan that the Evil Queen tried to keep a secret from her. The Savior knew that she had to save her family, even if she was risking her own life by doing so.

"Genie, I need your help!"

Sidney Glass appeared in the form of a genie, "How may I be of service, Princess Emma?"

"Can you look into other mirrors from different realms?"

"Yes, I can. Why do you ask?"

"I need you to help me send a message to Regina Mills in Storybrooke, Maine."

"Very well, one moment."

 **xxx**

Regina had excused herself to the restroom and surprised when she saw Sidney Glass staring back at her.

"I didn't know you were a Peeping Tom."

"Hello Your Majesty, I am not the Sidney Glass from your realm."

"Yes, I just noticed."

"I have a message for you from Princess Emma."

"Show me at once!"

Emma had appeared in the mirror and she a sight for sore eyes.

The light had faded from her eyes, her hair was no longer luscious and wavy, and Regina could have sworn that she could see Emma's collar bone sticking out in an unhealthy manner. It was easy to see with that metal collar around her neck. Her skin wasn't full of life, but was sickly pale.

"Regina, I don't have much time, so please listen." Emma's voice sounded so hollow and Regina put her hand up to the mirror.

"Oh Emma…"

"Listen to me, dammit!"

Regina nodded.

"The Evil Queen is coming to St…."

The last thing Regina saw before Emma disappeared was her being dragged away.

 **xxx**

"How dare you defy me like this!"

Emma was being dragged by her hair, but said nothing. She felt her heart fill with hope the moment that she saw Regina. She wasn't going to let the Evil Queen destroy it.

The Evil Queen used her magic to throw Emma against the bed frame. The Savior felt the wind get knocked out of her. She could hear the Evil Queen make her way slowly towards her.

Emma tried to lift herself. If she was going to lose her life, she sure as hell wasn't going to while lying on the floor or begging for mercy. The pain coming from hitting the wood was nothing compared to never seeing her family again.

The Evil Queen used her heel to press down on Emma's shoulder as she tried to sit up.

"Your warning isn't going to save them. In fact, it makes me want to hurt them even more than before."

"Over my dead body."

"You can't kill me while our blood oath is still active."

"Who said it still was?"

Emma looked at the mark and saw it disappear.

"No! What the hell did you do?!"

"I chose the day you were born. Ironic isn't it? At least your family will have an easy time remembering your death."

Emma had stared death in the face plenty of times, but this might be the real deal.

"You better look me in the fucking face before you kill me."

The Evil Queen used her magic to pin Emma down as she gripped her jaw tightly. The blonde's body was so fragile at this point that if the Evil Queen used anymore force, she would break Emma's jaw.

"Why so you bother acting so tough and mighty while I hold your life in my hands?"

"I never learned to give up so easily."

"You didn't show that before."

"You might have broken my mind and body, but there was no way in hell that you could break my spirit."

"Such bold words for a woman that is about to die."

The Evil Queen was about to set Emma on fire when a glowing light surrounded her and she was gone. She stood there dumbfounded as her prisoner had escaped.

How was this even possible?

"Genie, I demand you tell me where Emma Swan wanted you to relay the message to Regina!"

"Storybrooke, Your Majesty."

The Evil Queen threw another magic bean on the floor, but nothing happened.

"What is the meaning of this?" She shouted.

"The Blood Oath, Your Majesty, is preventing it from happening. You must wait at least a week."

 **xxx**

Emma blinked in confusion as she was teleported away from the Evil Queen. She laid on the ground and heard the wind flowing through the trees.

"Where am I?" Her voice felt so hoarse and it stung so badly.

When was the last time she had anything to drink?

She felt pain wracking her body as she tried to stand up.

"Emma!"

Emma didn't have time to look up before her Dad scooped her up in his arms as though she were a little girl and not a grown adult.

"Hey, you miss me?"

Her Mom had tears streaming down her face.

Emma tried to smile, but was too weak to make full one, so she did a half smile.

"Happy Birthday, Ma." Henry whispered as he kissed her cheek.

"Where's Regina?"

"I'm here, Emma."

Regina stepped out from behind.

Emma had reached out her hand towards Regina, who held on tightly to her hand. She watched as the blonde woman put it against her cheek.

"I really missed you, Regina."

Regina did her best not to cry.

"We're going home." Regina said as she used her magic to send them all to her home.

 **xxx**

Regina and Snow got to work taking care of Emma as she listened to Charming and Henry talk quietly to her.

"Henry, Emma needs her rest now."

"Five more minutes, Mom, please?"

Regina sat in a chair, "Alright Henry, five more minutes."

Henry was kneeling next to Emma, holding her hand the entire time.

"They canceled school today for your birthday. Mom showed us a hologram thing of you blowing out the candle on your cupcake when you turned twenty eight."

"You did that, Regina?"

"Yes, it was only fitting since you couldn't be here…"

"Thank you, Regina."

Henry wanted to say more, but Regina shook her head, "You need to let her sleep. Your grandparents have offered to take care of you while your mother recovers."

"But…"

"No buts, Kid, listen to your mom."

"Okay, Ma. I want to know if anything new comes up."

"You'll be the first to know, Henry."

"Time to go, Champ. Say bye to your moms."

Henry kissed Emma's cheek and then Regina's.

"Bye Ma and Mom. I will keep you two safe." Henry had this determined look on his face.

"And you'll do a wonderful job." Regina said with a smile.

Snow closed the door behind her as the three of them walked back to the Charmings' apartment.

Regina focused on Emma, "What happened?"

"Not now, Regina, please."

She sat down next to Emma and held her hand, "You're safe now."

"Not yet."

"What do you mean?"

"She's coming here, Regina."

"How is that possible? She shouldn't be able to leave her realm."

"Magic beans."

"Those are so rare to find."

"She somehow had two of those damn things."

"Is she here yet?"

"I don't know yet. She caught me so…"

"How did you get here? She obviously didn't let you go."

"She had the Blood Oath end today of all days."

Regina pursed her lips, "That's an choice."

"She thought killing me today would be fitting so nobody had to remember a new date for my death."

Regina pulled the blanket up until covered Emma. She had to have from shivering so much due to being so emaciated.

"I'm st-still shiv-shivering." Emma said as her teeth began to chatter.

Regina picked Emma up and frowned at how easy it was to do so. Usually this would be difficult, but it wasn't due to the state that Emma was in.

The younger woman rested her head against her Regina's chest. Emma snuggled as close to her body heat as she could.

As Regina ascended the stairs, she cradled Emma in her arms and kissed her forehead.

Regina laid Emma down in her bed, covered her up, and was walking out the door when she heard Emma's weak voice say, "Stay."

She pulled over her rocking chair and sat in it.

"No, here." Emma mumbled as she patted the other side of the bed.

Regina got under the covers and held Emma in her arms.

"Don't ever leave me again, Emma."

"I won't, Regina." Emma replied as she drifted off to sleep.

If Emma had died right then and there, it would be okay because was with Regina, at long last.

 **xxx**

A week had passed so slow for the Evil Queen. As soon as the Genie told her it was time, she threw down the magic bean again. She descended down into the portal.

She would teach Emma a lesson and show her what happened to those who humiliated her.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I didn't want to go into too much detail about Emma's appearance. I think I gave enough description in the previous chapter.**

 **xxx**

Regina woke up with Emma wrapping her arms around her neck. She remained where she was as not to disturb Emma.

For once, she was _finally_ able to have a good night sleep. It was probably because Emma was next to her.

Emma opened her eyes and she shoved Regina off the bed.

Regina remained calm.

"Emma?"

"I'm so sorry. I thought you were _her_."

Regina stood back up tried to smooth her clothes, "You need to get cleaned up."

"I don't want to."

"Emma, you're safe and sound right now. Will you please take a bath?"

The younger woman bit her lip.

"Okay."

Emma's voice wasn't the strong one that Regina was used to. Instead, it was very timid.

Regina held her hand out and Emma slowly gripped onto it. She fell into Regina's arms and held tightly onto her. Emma was resting her head on Regina's shoulder.

"Don't leave me."

"I won't."

"Don't say it if you don't mean it."

"Tell me if I'm lying."

Emma knew that she wasn't, but part of her still felt doubt clouding her mind.

 **xxx**

The Evil Queen had landed gracefully on her feet in the middle of Storybrooke. She was amazed at this place that Emma referred to as "Storybrooke" despite not being familiar with anything there. She looked up at the giant clock tower and watched as it froze in place. She want to test out her magic and used a fireball to destroy the strange thing that was made of metal. She suspected that it was used for transportation.

She expected it to have a dull outcome, but once the fireball hit it, the vehicle exploded and shards of the metal fell all around her. Lucky for her, nothing had caught her on fire, but it had obviously brought the attention of the town.

A purple smoke cloud was all that was left of the Evil Queen as Ruby ran outside to see the damage.

"Granny's gonna kill me…"

"Why am I going to do that?" Granny asked as she came out of the diner.

"The car you loaned me exploded."

Granny had a scowl on her face and had her crossbow in her hands, "This is why I can't give you nice things."

"Granny, I wasn't even out here when this happened!"

Ruby and Granny both sniffed the air and both them were utterly confused about the scent.

It had belonged to Regina Mills, the Mayor of Storybrooke, but something was off about it.

The young werewolf took out of phone and dialed Regina's cell phone.

"Hey Regina, you weren't by chance in the middle of town and blew up my car...were you?"

"I hope that you're joking right now, Miss Lucas. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of."

Regina paused on the other line and said, "Emma arrived back in Storybrooke not too long ago and I'm taking care of her. The only ones who know are the Charmings, Henry, and now you. I assume that you won't give out this information."

"Of course not. It's just when Granny and I ran out, we smelled _you,_ but not you."

"You're not making any sense."

"It smells the way you did before we arrived in Storybrooke."

Ruby waited a few seconds before saying, "Hello?"

"I'm here. Just let me think."

Ruby heard Emma's soft voice in the background, "Regina, she's here! I told you she would come for me. I don't want to go back, I can't."

"Shh, Emma, she's not going to take you away from me again."

Ruby cringed when she heard just how vulnerable her best friend's daughter was.

Regina held onto her cell phone tightly, "You need to find a way to deal with this situation. Don't call me unless it's an emergency."

Ruby was greeted by the dial tone.

"Granny, I hope you're ready to kick some ass."

"I was waiting for an excuse to take this crossbow out of storage."

 **xxx**

Regina was trying to quiet Emma down, "Nothing will happen to you, do you understand? Everything will be taken care of, with or without me present."

Emma nodded and allowed Regina to lead her to the bathroom.

It was as large as half of the Charmings' apartment and the bath was almost the size of the hideous death trap that Emma called a car.

Regina saw how Emma was admiring it, "When I came here, I made sure that I had the best things available to me. One can never take a large bath for granted."

The blonde just stood by the tub as Regina was making sure that the water filling the bath was warm. Regina sat on the edge and poured a small bottle of bubble bath in it. It was no surprise that it smelled like apples and a hint of cinnamon.

"Emma?"

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong."

The younger woman's gaze dropped to the floor and she didn't say anything further.

Regina turned off the faucet and carefully approached Emma, but didn't make any move to touch her.

She waited a few seconds before asking, "Do I have your consent to help you take off your clothes and get into the bath or would you like to do that yourself?"

"Can you turn around?"

"Of course." Regina faced away from Emma.

It was so hauntingly silent as Emma disrobed.

"You can turn around now."

As Regina did, she had to keep herself from covering her mouth. She had never hated herself more than she did now. Even if she herself wasn't responsible for the horrors that Emma had gone through, she still felt it weighing her down. The metal collar that Emma wore on her neck probably was a constant reminder that she hadn't truly escaped the Evil Queen.

It was like Emma barely looked like a human being anymore. Regina saw that there were scars on her the side of her ribs and on her thighs that weren't there before, not that she had ever seen Emma naked before.

Every step that the blonde took toward the water, Regina kept her focus on Emma's eyes. She wanted to see the passion behind them that she saw when Emma had first arrived. She wanted _her_ Emma back, the one that would fight over her for Henry, the one that saved her from the fire all those years ago, and the one that drank with her when she was having a pity drink.

A sigh escaped Emma's lips as she sank down into the water.

Regina tried to focus her gaze on something else since Emma had sat down in the tub.

"Can you help me?" Emma asked, almost whispering.

Regina kneeled down next to Emma and grabbed a washcloth to clean her back.

She was able to see small bruises around the lower part of Emma's neck. She was extremely careful with Emma and gave her the washcloth so Emma could clean the more sensitive areas.

Regina took a small plastic mug that was red and had an image of Mickey Mouse and Pluto on it. It used to be Henry's cup and she kept it with her despite him growing up and saying that it was for "babies".

She dipped it into the water, took it out, and had Emma lean her head slightly back so that she could pour the water on her hair. Next, she used the shampoo on Emma's hair and took her time to make sure that she cleaned it thoroughly.

"I knew you were a good choice for Henry."

"You didn't even know that I had adopted him."

"I saw it for myself all those years ago, Regina."

The water that was poured on Emma's hair must have been therapeutic for her because Regina saw how her body relaxed. The blonde closed her eyes and felt exhaustion take over her.

"If you stay in there, you'll age like me."

Emma opened one of her eyes, "You're not old."

"Tell that to Henry."

The blonde's laughter was the most beautiful sound that the brunette had ever heard in her life. Regina couldn't imagine how long it must have been since Emma had laughed, so she didn't think about it. All she wanted to think about was that they were together.

Regina grabbed a towel, "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Regina took no time at all to wrap Emma in the big fluffy towel and helped her step out of the tub.

"I was about to use magic, but I thought perhaps you didn't want me to."

"Thank you for being so considerate. It's not like you."

"I do have manners, _Miss Swan_."

Emma cracked a smile, "I know, _Madame Mayor_."

That moment that they just shared seemed to stop time for them. They were never transported to The Enchanted Forest, Emma never left, and Regina didn't cry for Emma every night.

"I didn't know what you wanted to wear when you got back so I brought you entire wardrobe here."

"All of them?"

"Yes and don't look at me like that. I had to be prepared!"

"I don't know if they'll fit me though."

Regina waved her hand and the water disappeared in the tub. She guided Emma out to the bedroom and let her slip into slippers that had never been worn.

"I didn't take you for the cutesy type, Regina."

Emma was "showing off" Regina's slippers that were white with a shiny unicorn horn in the center. The unicorn had bright blue eyes and had its pink tongue hanging off to the side.

Regina rolled her eyes, "Your mother must've purchased it and I got it by accident."

Emma lifted her foot and saw that Regina's name was on the bottom. One slipper said, "Regina" in purple cursive and the other said, "Mills".

The blonde giggled like a little girl, "Yeah, I can tell that mom totally bought this."

 **xxx**

Emma was sitting on the bed while Regina showed all the clothes.

"Uh Regina, these still have the tags on them."

"I kept your old clothes, but they're in there." Regina pointed to a large chest.

"I thought you had burned them or something."

"I was tempted to, especially that horrible red leather jacket of yours…"

"I never got it back."

Regina bent down to open the chest and pulled out Emma's leather jacket.

"I knew that you couldn't live without it, so I was able to bring it back."

"How?"

"Magic."

 **xxx**

Emma was lying next to Regina on the bed in her pajamas. They fit her perfectly after Regina used her magic to make any clothing that Emma put on mold to her body, regardless of the size.

"I can't believe you bought me _this_. It looks like something my mom would buy me, not you."

"I wouldn't have you wearing pink either, but Henry suggested it. He wanted you to have something "Princess" material."

The top was light pink and it said in sparkly glittery cursive, "This is what a Princess looks like". The pajama pants were the same light pink with cartoon looking crowns on them.

"At least my mom didn't pick it out. Can you imagine what she would buy me?"

"I don't have to imagine. She had been browsing the online stores and had been doing it in the diner. I happened to look at it, by accident."

"An "accident", yeah right."

Regina was enjoying this, whatever was happening with Emma.

"Emma, I hate to ruin this moment we're having, but we need to talk."

"About the Evil Queen?"

"No."

"Then about what?"

"Us."

"Us? I didn't know where was an 'us'."

"I don't just cry about anybody for goodness sake."

"You...you cried over me?"

"It wasn't like I planned it."

Emma had turned towards Regina and the brunette turned to face her.

They were nose-to-nose and Emma's breath tickled Regina's face.

"So what about...us?"

Regina bit her bottom lip, she did this when she was nervous, but Emma was the only person who had ever seen her do this.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." Emma said as she used her hand to cup Regina's cheek.

It had distracted Regina enough that she stopped.

"Since the two of us are Henry's mother, I thought it would be appropriate to get to know each other...better."

Emma chuckled, "You just saw me naked, Regina."

"I wasn't looking!"

"If I looked like _normal_ , I know you would've been checking me out."

"Emma, you're beautiful."

"You're only saying that because I got back."

"No, you have _always_ been beautiful to me. Even when you pressed me against the wall and had your arm against my throat."

Emma winced, "I'm really sorry about that. You just rile me up."

"I hope that's in a good way."

Emma shrugged.

"Please don't think that I will allow you to continue looking at me like that, Miss Swan."

"I never knew that you were the type to be _so_ bossy."

"Well, someone has to keep their Sherriff in line."

"I'm yours now, huh?"

Regina hesitated on answering because she felt guilty after Emma phrased it that way.

"Emma, I didn't mean…"

"Shh, I know you didn't mean it like that. The Evil Queen might be a part of you, but she _isn't_ you. When I was there…"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I want you to hear this."

Emma took a deep breath in order to prepare herself and dropped her hand from Regina's cheek.

"She was cruel, but she did have some moments when she wasn't. There was this one time where we were taking a walk in her garden and we sat under the apple tree. The one you have here doesn't do it justice. The apples shined like rubies."

Regina nodded, "I didn't value many things, but my apple tree was always one of them. My father and I planted it together."

"She actually let me _sleep_ and it was peaceful, while it lasted, anyways."

"What were the other things she did that you would consider to not be as…"

"Humiliating? Filthy? Disgusting?"

Regina knew that Emma wasn't talking about her, but she might as well have been. She even felt a tear fall down her cheek, but she didn't understand why.

Was she crying for herself?

Was she crying because she couldn't save Emma?

Regina felt Emma wipe her tear away, "Hey, no crying, got it? I'm serious, Regina, I know that you didn't do those things to me. When she was asleep, I would stay awake, and just watch her. Somehow, she found peace, even if she was so unhappy. She looked the same way you do when you sleep."

"I would hope so, we have the same face."

Emma rolled her eyes, "I meant that she didn't look tormented by her demons."

"I had been unhappy for such a long time. I thought that the realm we had landed in was before I had enacted the curse, but I couldn't be sure. There are alternate universes and anything was possible. Even so, that Evil Queen seemed to be much colder than the way I was. I wasn't an angel by any means, but she acted as though she had lost much more than I had.

Yes, we both had lost Daniel, but that was all we had in common. She never brought up my father, so I could only assume that she had killed him, that he was safe, or he was met with a worse fate than death."

"What can be worse than death besides what I was put through?"

"Have you heard of Prometheus?"

"The name sounds familiar, but I have no idea."

"According to Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan that was a trickster and had given humans the gift of fire as well as the ability to work with metal. Zeus was furious with him and as punishment, Prometheus was chained to a rock. Every day, an eagle would come and eat his liver. It would grow back and it would repeat itself."

"There goes my appetite…"

"I just meant that the Evil Queen could've done something similar by forcing my father to repeat something over and over again. Perhaps it wouldn't have been as violent."

"He was safe, Regina. The Evil Queen said that he had been very sick and she had sent for the best doctors around. She did everything she could, but he died. Your mom, Cora, was the one that had caused his death. She didn't necessarily do the deed, but she had broken your dad's heart. I think the one that sealed the deal with the Evil Queen. Did you know that you can actually die of a broken heart?"

"Yes, it's known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy. It's usually reversible within a few days or weeks."

"I think when he lost his little girl, Regina, and saw what Cora had made her, it was the last straw for him. The Evil Queen sometimes had nightmares and would call for him though. She would wake up startled and somehow found a way to calm down when she saw me there."

"You were the only one that hadn't left her. I know that you didn't have a choice in the matter, but she might've found some comfort in that."

"I just thought about what I would do for you if you were in her position. I'm not excusing her for her actions or what she had done to me. I just was finally able to see her as a person and not as the Evil Queen. I was able to understand how everyone in Storybrooke saw you."

Regina was feeling uncomfortable at the moment. She didn't want anything to do with the Evil Queen and had spent years separating herself from her past.

"Some still think of me that way, Emma."

"I did what I could to set them straight."

Regina had a small smile grace her lips, "Yes, I noticed that they were more respectful towards me. I thought that might've been your parents, not you."

"My parents might be Snow White and Prince Charming, but it doesn't mean that they can take all the credit for my work."

"What else did you learn from her?"

"She likes beheadings a lot."

"It was what we referred to as 'entertainment' back then."

"It was worse than any R-rated movie I had ever seen."

"I don't understand how you're able to joke about this…"

"It's because you're here with me and I feel like I'm capable of anything. I wouldn't wish what I went through even on my worst enemy."

Emma paused, "It gave me the chance to understand the two of you better. You might be the same in appearance and she might have some weird quirks of yours, but that's it. She is what you would've been had you not found Henry."

"Henry did save me."

"Yeah, he saved me to. I mean, I wasn't going anywhere in life. So what if I had a nice apartment and clothes? I had nobody to share it with until I met Henry."

"I still can't believe that he stole my credit card. He obviously got that from you."

"I wasn't the one that raised him for the first ten years of his life. You should've seen the way he tried to pull a stunt where he would tell the cops that I kidnapped him!"

"He did what?!"

"Yeah, he's totally your kid."

"No, he's _our_ kid."

"Do you really mean that, Regina?"

"Yes, Emma, I do."

Regina leaned in to kiss Emma's cheek.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I had surgery when I was 18, so I had to relearn how to eat and drink again, so I based what difficulties Emma has with eating and drinking off of that.**

 **xxx**

Emma had been making a face the entire time Regina was talking to her.

"...And that is why it's so essential that you eat."

"I know, but everything I eat or drink just comes back up, so I end up choking too."

"You need to try these things slowly. Solid foods are the least of your worries! Why won't you try the liquid drinks that I gave you?"

"The green vomit?"

"No, Em-ma. I blended nutritious things in them and they were all liquified!"

"It doesn't matter, it's gross."

Emma was acting like a five year old.

Everyone knew that she hadn't recovered from what she went through with the Evil Queen nor did she pretend to.

Emma was beginning to feel a bit human again by "arguing" with Regina about being healthy.

"Please, try again for me?"

"Can we go back to eating puddings?"

"No! That is so unhealthy for you!"

Emma used her magic to have stacks on stacks of vanilla and chocolate puddings on the kitchen table next to the blender.

"Look Regina, we have to have a compromise or something. I can't keep drinking that goopy stuff. You're going to kill Henry with it!"

"I would _never_ try to purposefully kill our son!"

"What about that apple turnover that he ate?"

"That wasn't my fault!"

"No, I know."

"It's good to know that we got passed that and can joke about it now."

 **xxx**

"Ma, what are you drinking?"

Emma was trying to make a face to be more dramatic while drinking it, "Your Mom's trying to kill me, again."

Regina rolled her eyes, "It's healthy, Henry."

"Does all healthy stuff look _that_ gross?"

"Henry, if you say one more insult about my nutritious drinks, you won't be having lasagna for a week!"

Emma snorted into her glass and some of the green liquid shot up her nose.

"Oh God, it burns."

"Serves you right for insulting me like that."

Emma continued to be more dramatic by putting the glass on the table, falling to the ground, and pretended to be dead.

Henry nudged Emma with his shoe, "Mom, you killed Ma."

"Don't you dare nudge her with your shoe!"

Regina stared down at Emma, "Get off the floor this instance!"

Emma didn't respond because she was "dead" and to "convince" Regina and Henry of this, she had her tongue loll out while summoning a dry erase marker to put "X's" over her eyes.

"That is the last straw! Henry, I need to have a word with your other mother."

"Psst, Henry, save me."

Henry grinned, "Can I drag you like a dead body too?"

"Sure, just be careful over that threshold!"

Henry was getting into position and was holding on Emma's arms, but dropped them as soon as his other mom gave him a death glare.

"Er...how about next time?"

"Raincheck, Kid, I gotcha."

Emma winked at him and Henry bent down to kiss her cheek, "See you soon, Ma!"

He turned towards Regina, "Please let her off easy, okay? Ma needs some slack."

Regina's voice softened, "Of course Henry, I would never cause any real harm to Emma."

"She secretly loves me, that's why."

Regina rolled her eyes, " _Someone_ is so full of herself."

"Yeah, full of gross green poisonous death stuff."


	14. Chapter 14

The Evil Queen had decided to take herself to another area of the town, which was apparently in front of a structure with the name, "Gold's Pawn Shop".

Out of curiosity more than anything, she had entered it. She was slightly alarmed when she heard a bell, but calmed down immediately after she learned that it wouldn't cause her any harm.

"So what do I owe the pleasure?" Rumplestiltskin said as he appeared from behind the curtain.

"You Imp, I demand that you tell me exactly what is going on here!"

"Well, if it isn't the Evil Queen herself. What, pray tell, are you doing here in my shop?"

"I don't need to answer any of your questions. Why do you look so…"

"Cleaned up? If you must know, Dearie, you're in a completely different timeline than the one you came from."

"And how would know this?"

"I possess knowledge that you can only _dream_ of."

.

"Then tell me where I would find this woman, this Swan."

"Emma Swan? What business do you have with her?"

"The type that doesn't concern you!"

"Oh no, Your Majesty, I need to know whether you intend to harm her. You see Emma Swan and I are close, but not in the romantic sense."

"Is...is Henry here as well?"

"My grandson?"

"Yes."

"Dealing with Emma Swan is entirely different than my grandson."

"He's _my_ son!"

"No, he's Emma's and this world's Regina's son."

"Emma told me that he is a very bright boy."

"Yes, he is and many more things. I can only help you find Emma Swan, Henry is off limits."

"How dare you tell a Queen what to do!"

"You might be a Queen, Your Majesty, but you are only one by title. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pick up my grandson from school."

• **°•°•°•°•°•**

The Evil Queen left in a fury and when she slammed the door, she made sure that the glass shattered and the wooden door had a sliver of wood that would cause it to slowly break instead of all at once.

She was making her way through the town and before she left, she saw the outside of Gold's Shop was a map of the town. She knew about the town because of what Emma Swan had told her when she felt so lonely.

She had felt actual _guilt_ over what she had done to Emma, but she couldn't take it back.

• **°•°•°•°•°•**

Emma was sighing when she took the disgusting green goop with her out of the house. Regina had become a lot stricter with her than before about getting all of her nutrients. She was always kind to her, but she had gone above and beyond for Emma. The blonde woman still wasn't used to being put first.

Regina was walking down the stairs and tried to shoo Emma out the door, who was reluctant to leave the house.

"Can we just stay here, Regina? We can take on the outside later."

"Emma, you haven't left the house in weeks."

Regina looked at Emma and gave her a reassuring smile, "We'll be doing this _together_."

"Right, _together_. Not like, together together though, right? I mean, not that I wouldn't like that and all but we're not."

"We aren't, but we should try being friends first."

"Thank you, Regina, for everything."

"No need to thank me, Emma, I did this because I _wanted_ to."

"But you didn't have to."

"I know. Now if you don't take a step outside, then I will find a way to get you over there myself."

"Whatcha gonna do, drop kick me in the ass?"

Regina rolled her eyes, "That's ridiculous! Why would I ruin my good heels?"

"Aren't all your heels your "good heels" though?"

"Yes, fair point."

Regina took Emma's hand, that was shaking from the fear of leaving the house.

"I'm here with you Emma and we can do anything together."

• **°•°•°•°•°•**

The Evil Queen had spotted a familiar blonde walking out of the giant white mansion's front door with herself, or at least a version of herself. The door was closed as both of them were walking on the entryway.

"My, my, what do we have here?"

Emma was paralyzed on the spot.

Regina didn't have to look at Emma to know that fear was what was keeping her there.

Emma looked up at Regina with a look that shattered her heart into a million pieces all over again, the exact feeling that she had when she lost her father.

"Don't retreat back there, I'm here with you."

The blonde woman just nodded and felt the brunette squeeze her hand to reassure her.

• **°•°•°•°•°•**

The Evil Queen continued in the direction of the two women with a menacing look until she heard a new voice.

"Hey Ma and Mom, did you know that this green stuff actually tastes kinda good?"

Henry had bumped into his parents and he looked a bit confused. He was tugging on both of their shirts.

"I'm here, you know, so stop being weird."

"Henry, go back inside."

"But Mom, I want to come with you! You can't leave me alone, I just got Ma back."

The Evil Queen stopped as she heard her father's name being said and she couldn't keep that menacing gaze in the presence of a child.

Henry pushed past his parents and felt both of them pull him closer to him. If someone had walked by, then it would look like he was protecting them like a shield.

"Henry?"

Henry saw the Evil Queen standing there.

"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out."

His parents had heard one of the cruelest women they had ever known actually laugh. It wasn't a cold laugh either.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're known as the Evil Queen, but I don't think that you're evil though. I mean, I know that you made mistakes just like Mom has, but we forgave her. We can forgive you too. Right, Mom? Right, Ma?"

The two women had a history with the woman standing in front of them. Neither of them wanted to be in her presence, but here she was. It was odd that she was acting _kind_ for once.

"But Henry, she's the Evil Queen!"

"So? Mom, you sound like Grandma."

"That's completely different, Henry."

"How though? I know she's the Evil Queen, but you used to be like her and everyone saw you as that except Ma. Maybe this time, you can be like Emma, Mom."

"If you knew what she had done to Emma…"

"I don't know all the details, but I saw how Ma was hurting a lot. She looked so lost until you found her. If you gave each other a second chance, then why can't she get one too? Please, Mom? Just try."

The Evil Queen quietly watched this exchange and she felt tears well up in her eyes. It was the first time, besides Emma, defending her. Henry was a completely stranger, let alone a little boy, and he still had a way of changing people.

Emma took a deep breath and looked up at the Evil Queen. She didn't see anger in her eyes, she saw remorse, she saw happiness, and she saw peace.

Regina sighed, "Henry, she came here to _kill_ Emma."

"You tried to kill Grandma like a thousand times. How is this any different?"

"Because she _will_ succeed where I failed."

"I won't."

Emma finally spoke, "What?"

"I won't kill you. I did plan to when I came here, but then I saw Henry and…"

Henry seemed victorious when she said, "I told you!"

"How can a callous woman such as yourself feel _any_ emotions after what you had done to Emma?"

"How can _you_?"

Regina wasn't prepared for anyone, especially the Evil Queen, to ask her that question.

"We're different, obviously."

"Oh, are we?"

"All we have similar is our physical appearances. Other then that, we are nothing alike!"

"We're both drawn towards Emma in one way or another. You've become so protective over her like you should."

The Evil Queen tried to take one step closer, but Regina had her hand have a fireball in it.

"One step closer and I won't hesitate to burn you where you stand."

The other woman waited until the fireball was extinguished.

"I know that apologizing to Emma might mean nothing, but she deserves to hear it nonetheless. I am truly sorry for what I put you through. You didn't deserve it and I never see the after effect of what happens after I do what I do. You're the first person that I have ever seen."

Emma wanted to run back into the house and not looking back. She wanted to bolt the door and never go back out ever again. But the wooden door wouldn't protect her from the Evil Queen.

"You had no right! You stole something from me that I will _never_ get back. You stole _everything_ from me that night and there's nothing you can say or do that will give me cause to forgive you. You don't deserve to be forgiven! You don't deserve to feel love or kindness! And you sure as hell don't have any right to be near my son, Henry.

So you turn around and go back to wherever you're from because you're not welcome here. _I_ don't want you here, Regina doesn't want you here, nor do other people that love and care about me."

"You haven't asked Henry what _he_ wants."

"I want to get to know her. If she's a part of Mom, then I want to. If Ma was able to show her kindness, then is she such a horrible person like you two say she is?"

"You aren't taking one step towards her."

"Fine, I'll talk to her from here, okay?"

He saw his parents nod their head and he took cleared his throat as though he was prepared to make a long speech.

"Hi, I'm Henry, and I'm your son. Well, your sort-of son because technically I'm Ma's. Anyways, the other you has been really nice to me and if she's so nice to me, then I bet you can be nice too. Yeah, you might've done horrible things, especially to my parents, but my Grandma taught me that it's good to forgive. She said that if you don't forgive, then whatever bad feeling you have just grows inside of you and poisons you like the way an apple poisoned her.

If my Mom was able to change, then I don't see why you can't either, you know? You made mistakes, but you can always make them right. You just need someone to _understand_ you and that's where I come in.

With my Mom, all I knew were her stories and I believed that she was truly as evil as they claimed her to be. But then I realized that wasn't who my Mom was anymore. Sure, she still had her dark side within her, but my Ma vanquished them!

So maybe you just need to find your own Emma in your world. Maybe there's a version of me in your world too. Nobody should ever be alone, not even you."

Henry felt a bit embarrassed that he had said so much to a woman that the entire town had feared for years. She could turn him into a pile of dust if she wanted, so he was a bit nervous about that.

"You're right, Henry. Your parents have raised a bright young boy. You see, I don't have what you have here. Not just the advancement that goes beyond a simple horse and carriage. I don't have my own Emma or my own you. It's just me, alone in that castle with guards that only protect me because I threatened them with losing their life."

"Nobody's perfect. My parents and grandparents aren't perfect and I still love them."

"If there were perfect people, then they would be so utterly dull."

"I think you can change, for the better. If Mom did it, then why can't you?"

"Because there are some sins that are unforgivable, no matter how much you want them to be."


	15. Chapter 15

"Even Grandpa Gold was forgiven for what he had done to his loved ones, like my Dad.

Why are you all saying that forgiving is such a good thing, but none of you can forgive each other?!

This is so stupid!

I hate adults sometimes."

"I hope that you stay this way even when you are older, Henry. There needs to be more people like you than people like me."

"You can't be replaced! There won't be another you and I want to get to know you because you're my Mom too, in a way. If you're a part of Mom, then I want you to stay here for a little bit."

"Your parents don't want that, so I will have to go back home."

The Evil Queen didn't have a home, just an old castle that was empty of love and happiness. It was stripped away from her the moment that her Father died and it happened once more when she lost Emma to her own cruelness.

"You won't hurt my Ma, right?"

"No, I won't hurt Emma."

"Just like that, you're going to stop your conquest? Do you know what _torture_ you have put Emma through?" Regina snapped.

"I don't have to know because I can see it on her face, in her eyes, and in her voice, Regina."

"I never want to see you ever again. You don't belong in this land!"

"You can't escape me, Regina. You see me everyday when you look in the mirror."

"At least I can live with the fact that I didn't do what you did to Emma."

The Evil Queen didn't respond because Regina was right. She didn't deserve to live anymore, even if Henry believed that she should. She would indeed return to her land, alone and forgotten.

As she was about to throw a magic bean down on the ground, Henry ran to her, and hugged her tightly. She was lucky that it didn't open a portal when it dropped onto the cement. Neither of them women standing before her would ever forgive her again if they had lost their precious son.

The Evil Queen could only weep as he held onto her tightly, "Don't go, please. I know that I don't know you, but I know that I love my Mom, so I know that I love you too. I don't want you to be alone like Mom was. You don't deserve that and punishing yourself won't make it any better."

"Nobody wants me here, Henry, I have to go."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"Henry…"

"Okay, maybe not, but I want to if it means you wouldn't be alone."

She let go of Henry and bent down on one knee to look at him. She had brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"You look like such a sweet boy and I cannot allow myself to corrupt you in any way. Listen to your parents and go with them. You have taught me the true meaning of love, just like Emma had shown me, even when I did not deserve it."

"You can stay and...and… we can be a bigger family! They say that it's better to have three's than two's. So three mom's would be awesome! It means more presents and more food too."

She couldn't help herself when she let out a small laugh as she kept crying.

Henry wiped her tears away, "Promise you'll visit me though, okay? Every year for my birthday."

"I don't think they would allow me to return."

"If they don't let you, then I'll find you. Grandma says she will always find Grandpa, so I will always find you."

"You be a good boy and listen to your parents. We will meet again one day, if they ever forgive me. Until then, I want you to hold onto this for me and give it back for when I return."

The Evil Queen took out a small necklace that her Father wore that she had always kept with her. It was a locket that had her picture in it and she put it on Henry.

"Whenever you miss me, you can look at this, and always know that I am with you."

Henry held onto her for as long as he could and didn't want to let go of her.

"I have to go, Henry."

"No, you can't!"

"Henry, you have to let me go. The sooner you do, the sooner I will see you."

Henry was now the one crying and he was wiping his nose with his sleeve.

The Evil Queen had taken out a handkerchief to wipe his tears and his nose.

"Princes don't wipe their nose with their sleeves."

"Mom says that too."

She smiled at the boy that was melting her cold heart.

"You keep that safe until I return, understand?"

"Okay, I will."

"Good boy."

She kissed his cheek before releasing him from her embrace and stood away from him as she picked up the magic bean. The magic bean was thrown onto the ground and the portal had opened up.

She took a final glance towards Regina and Emma before leaping into the portal.

She mouthed two words to them, "Thank you".

The Evil Queen had disappeared into the portal that had swallowed her whole.


	16. Chapter 16

It felt like years had passed for Henry because maybe they had. All he knew was that he stood outside and stared at the same spot before school, after school, and right before bedtime, but she never came.

The innocent little boy had grown up and was now seventeen years old and about to get out of high school.

He was leaving the house when he heard a voice.

"Hello, Henry."

He turned on his heels as quickly as he could before hugging the woman known as the Evil Queen.

"Mom!"

"I think your parents might be jealous if they heard you call me that."

"I don't care. Where have you been? I have waited every night!"

"I had to make things right in my kingdom. Happiness has been restored. I was able to turn back time enough for loved ones to not have died by...me. It only helped in my realm, not here."

"So Ma…"

"Yes, that hasn't been erased. Henry, if I changed that, then we would've never met. I'm not saying that I wouldn't want to take back what unforgivable sin I had committed because I would in a heartbeat and I swear on my Father's life. We both know that magic always comes with a price."

"Is that why you had to wait?"

"Yes. In order for all those agonizing years to be reversed, I had to remain in my land for that many years."

"They talk about you, you know."

"I have no doubt that they do."

"They actually...miss you."

"That's impossible. Don't put words in their mouths, Henry!l. I hope you didn't learn that from your parents."

"Come on Mom, you know I would never do that!"

"Why do you call me "Mom" when I'm not really her?"

"You're a part of her, so you _are_ my Mom too."

"You may call me, Regina. I love being called "Mom", but I am _not_ your Mother."

"Okay. _Regina._ That just sounds weird."

"I am still used to having you for a _son_."

"Did you find an Emma and a version of me there?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Henry heard a sadness in her voice.

"Well, I'm always here for you, except when I leave."

"Leave?"

"I am going to college soon."

The Evil Queen frowned, "You cannot leave, I have only arrived!"

"I'm not leaving now, just in a few months. College is a place where you learn more than you could in your own town."

"Where is this...this college?"

"It's a few hours away."

"Henry, I wish to accompany you at this...college."

"Why?"

"My education stopped earlier than I had hoped. My education was shifted from academics to being a Queen."

"Maybe Mom and Ma can help teach you the basic stuff. You can always visit me there!"

"I don't believe that it's possible, Henry."

"Why not?"

"I don't _belong_ here, Henry. I can't live in this world too long or my world may disappear completely."

"Does everyone just cease to exist? Like they never existed?"

"Yes and I cannot do that to my people, especially due to all that they had been through already!"

"You can still visit me once a year, right?"

"Of course."

"Want to walk me to school?"

"I can't, at least, not dressed like this."

"You will not walk around in my town wearing _that_." Regina said.

"Regina."

"Your Majesty."

The two of them had a standoff and Henry got in between them, "Moms, let's be civil, okay?".

Emma walked outside, "We'll come with you."

"You...you would accompany me? But why?

Even after all these years, the Evil Queen was still suspicious of kindness.

"Because what Henry had said long ago about forgiveness is true. How can I heal if I can't forgive you? I will _never_ forget what you had done though, but you have to live with the guilt, I don't."

The Evil Queen could only nod.

She deserved this and much worse, but Emma was showing her mercy, something she did not show her.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I want this to end happily, so we're slowly going in that direction!**

 **I'm not making it so that Emma is magically recovered from what the Evil Queen did.**

 **She's choosing** **to forgive her despite that what the Evil Queen did is irreversible.**

 **xxx**

Before the Evil Queen realized what was happening, the trio had pulled her into the house.

Regina had helped her up the stairs due to her still being in shock and was standing in front of a closet.

"I know that you are from a different realm and that you don't wish to see your land ruined, but I thought that you can at least enjoy your time here when you visit Henry."

The Evil Queen was speechless.

"Once a year for his birthday isn't sufficient enough, you need to visit more if you and Henry want an unbreakable bond."

"What do I do about my kingdom? It can't be taken care of without a Queen."

"Perhaps we can make it so that you live here permanently. There must be a way to make it so your kingdom doesn't vanish.

Does Snow White and Prince Charming still exist there?"

"Yes, they do and they have forgiven me for the crimes I have committed."

"I recommend letting them rule your kingdom as well."

"I can't allow you three to let me stay here. It's not right of me to stay where I don't belong."

Emma put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know this place looks scary, but it's not. You said it yourself that where you're from doesn't feel like a home.

I'm sure if you sort things out back at your castle, then everything will fall into place.

After all, Henry wants you here and I don't want to keep him from you. Regina and I did that enough with each other over the years. It only lead to hurting one another."

Henry nodded, "Having three moms means more presents for me!"

Emma swatted his arm, "Be serious, Kid!"

"Sorry Ma! All I'm saying is that I'd love to have you added to our family. You might drive Ma crazy though."

Emma rolled her eyes, "I can handle _two_ Reginas."

"I don't know Ma, Mom's a handful!"

"Henry Mills, if you say one more thing, then I will ground you for a week!"

"I'm going to college soon, you can't ground me!"

The Evil Queen had a small smile on her face as she watched the trio interact with one another.

 **xxx**

The _former_ Evil Queen had arranged it so that she no longer needed to be a part of her own world anymore. The Charmings had taken over her kingdom as discussed, so she was free to remain in Storybrooke. The other towns people weren't a fan of her, at first, but they opened their hearts and home to her.

There was weariness when it came to trying to cross the town line.

"We can totally do this in baby steps."

"Emma, she's not a child!"

"She's nervous and I would be too."

The former Evil Queen rolled her eyes, "I'm right here, you two."

She turned towards Henry, "Are they always this protective?"

"Yep!"

"They do this because…?"

"They love you, duh."

"That sounds ridiculous."

"They're ridiculous!"

"I heard that, Kid!"

"Henry, don't be a bad influence."

Henry held onto his third Mom's hand, "I'll be here the entire way with you. You can do this."

He bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"What am I, Kid, chopped liver?"

Henry and the former Evil Queen made a face.

Emma held onto her hand while the other Regina held onto Emma's.

"As a family, we're doing this. One, two, three…"

The four of them walked over the town line and all four of them made it safely.

"Family vacation starts now!"

"Emma, we are _not_ taking her in your death trap!"

"Death trap?"

Henry chuckled, "She means Ma's car."

The former Evil Queen was proud to finally learn and understand what he was saying. She even knew how to drive a car.

"I would prefer not to if it's referred to as a "death trap", so is there another way to travel?"

"My car."

Regina snapped her fingers and her sleek black car had appeared where they were with bags packed.

"We're going on a big adventure!"

Emma high-fived Henry.

She held out her hand for another high-five towards the former Evil Queen.

"High-five?"

When she gave her one, Emma wasn't ready for it.

"Jeez, you know how to kick butt! Next time, I won't ask you or Regina for high-fives."

The former Evil Queen laughed at how funny Emma was.

"Everyone in the car, please." Regina said.

After everyone was settled, they drove off into the distance.

The pain of the past was left behind and all that was left was happiness.


End file.
